Posted: 7/4/2011 10:26:37 AM EDT
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For that past couple of weeks I have pretty much been just doing the small creek thing. Wanting a change of pace I decided to hit a river that I have not been to in a year. As I packed the night before my excitement grew at the potential for this trip. I finally made it to bed around midnight; “oh well” I thought three hours of sleep is good enough.
My alarm went off three hours later; I got up, showered and hit the road. It was pretty warm in the valley already so I was glad to be going to the high country. I was solo on this trip so I was having fun “shooting the canyons” as I made my way to the river. As I drove over the summit, I laughed when I saw snow still on the ground. Well at least it isn’t hot up here I thought. Three and a half hours after leaving my house I was at the river. 
I got out and grabbed my gear out of the trunk. After getting ready I made my way down to the river and began to fish. 
I was fishin' the first run for a little bit I felt a subtle tug and set the hook. Right away I could tell that I had not hooked the intended species; as the fish didn’t have anywhere near the fight. When I got him in I laughed when I saw my conehead popsicle sticking out the side of the mouth of a 16” rainbow. I released the little guy and continued to fish. After a while of nothing I decided to move down river. I found a nice run and began to fish. After about thirty minutes I felt a take, set the hook and the rod exploded with life. This was a much more powerful fish than the little bow; could it be what I was after? Well a short time later, my question was answered when he broke the surface for the first time. I fought this guy for a little while and he put on a great show taking to the air five times. Just when I thought to myself that I was making progress; I felt a head shake and the line went dead. Mother f'er I just LDR'ed the damn thing. Well I was pissed at first, then realized that, while I didn’t land him, it was still fun as hell. 
Once I was done with lunch, I decided to go check out other areas of the river. 
I fished the rest of the day without another take. When I was back at the car I saw the Fish and Game truck. They pulled up and asked me if I was salmon fishing, I replied yes. They asked me how long I had been fishing for I told them that I had been fishing for around 9 hours, hooked one but didn’t land him. The warden then said that it has been slow and that they have not talked to anybody that has landed one yet. After that I decided to bail as I had enough casting practice for the day. Although I didn’t land the one I hooked I had a great time up there. I think I am going to give it a week or two and go back; hopefully the numbers will pick up by then. |
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Quoted:
Salmon are running already in ID? Ours don't start untl September; but mostly October. Steelhead continue until January. Yup every year at this time. The water out here has been real high this year though. So the fishin has been about two weeks behind a normal year. Our (real) steelhead  are a fall thing out here.
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